[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 17, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H4448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF LeROY KING
(Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, it is with great personal sadness that I
rise today to pay my final tribute to San Francisco's much beloved
LeRoy King, who died on June 12 at the age of 91. A distinguished labor
and civil rights African American leader, King's passion for justice
and commitment to equality improved the lives of working men and women
in San Francisco and throughout the country. From inviting Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. to speak in San Francisco in 1967 to his casting my
electoral college vote in 2008 for President Barack Obama as the first
African American President of the United States, LeRoy King was more
than a witness to historic progress; he made history.
During World War II, King served with courage and honor in the Army
and dedicated his entire life to preserving and strengthening the great
democracy he fought to protect. Even in his 80s, in the tradition of
great American leaders, he was arrested for an act of civil
disobedience on behalf of hotel and restaurant workers.
King served as northern regional director of the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union, ILWU, for more than 30 years. It was
important to him to overturn a discriminatory system that elected only
Whites to union office, and he helped create a fully inclusive,
integrated workforce. King organized with legendary labor leader Harry
Bridges, was a staunch supporter of civil rights champion Cesar Chavez,
was a supporter of Reverend Martin Luther King, and in 2009 he was
honored with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award for
promoting peace and advancing social and economic justice by embodying
Dr. King's inclusive leadership and nonviolent participation.
Mr. King, whether it was for ending discrimination and promoting
affordable housing to community development to jazz, he has been
honored. His accomplishments are memorialized in locations throughout
San Francisco. My revised remarks, for the Record, will go more into
that.
It has been a great privilege for me to know such a deeply principled
and exemplary human being and to call him friend. I will miss him. My
family, my husband and my daughter Christine, my entire family will
miss him terribly.
I hope it is a comfort to his daughters, Rebecca King Morrow and
Carolyn King Samoa; his son, LeRoy King Jr.; his grandchildren, and
great grandchildren that so many San Franciscans, indeed beyond San
Francisco, and other people loved and admired LeRoy King, and they
share their tremendous loss.
Mr. Speaker, it is with great personal sadness that I rise to pay
final tribute to San Francisco's much beloved LeRoy King, who died on
June 12th at the age of 91. A distinguished labor and civil rights
leader, King's passion for justice and commitment to equality improved
the lives of working women and men in San Francisco and throughout the
country.
From inviting Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. to speak in San Francisco in
1967 to his casting my electoral college vote in 2008 for Barack Obama
as the first African American President of the United States, LeRoy
King was more than a witness to historic progress, he made history.
During World War II, King served with courage and honor in the Army--
and dedicated his entire life to preserving and strengthening the great
democracy he fought to protect. Even in his 80s, in the tradition of
great American leaders, he was arrested for an act of civil
disobedience on behalf of hotel and restaurant workers.
King served as Northern Regional Director of the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) for more than 30 years. King
became a member of ILWU Local 6 in 1946, one of the first African
Americans to serve in the local leadership. In the 1950s he led a
coalition of members to overturn a discriminatory system that elected
only whites to union office and helped create a fully inclusive,
integrated workforce. Mr. King sought to create a world where others
could live free of discrimination, bigotry and injustice.
King organized with legendary labor leader Harry Bridges and was a
staunch supporter of civil rights champion Cesar Chavez. In 2009 the
National Education Association honored King with the Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Memorial Award for promoting peace and advancing social and
economic justice by embodying King's inclusive leadership and
nonviolent philosophy.
Mr. King served on the San Francisco Redevelopment Commission for
more than 30 years where he fought to preserve the African American and
Japanese American heritage of the Fillmore District. His efforts helped
lay a foundation for a more inclusive, more welcoming home for all San
Franciscans.
King was instrumental in the creation of the St. Francis Square
Cooperative Housing development, which opened in 1963 in the Fillmore
District and was a national model of racially integrated housing for
working families. King and his family lived there from the time it
opened until he died.
King's accomplishments are memorialized in locations around San
Francisco. The City's 108-year old carousel at Yerba Buena Gardens was
renamed the LeRoy King Carousel, an homage to one of the many sites
King helped shape while serving on the Redevelopment Commission. A
bronze bust of King at the Jazz Heritage Center in San Francisco's
Fillmore District honors his work preserving the neighborhood's African
American and Japanese American heritage.
It has been a great privilege for me to know such a deeply principled
and exemplary human being and to call him my friend.
I hope it is a comfort to his daughters Rebecca King Morrow and
Carolyn King Samoa, his son LeRoy King Jr. and his grandchildren and
great grandchildren, that so many San Franciscans who loved and admired
LeRoy share their tremendous loss.
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